1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to security systems to reduce theft of goods from retail stores.
2. Description of the Related Art
A commercially available system for inhibiting the theft of goods from retail stores uses an active electronic article surveillance (EAS) tag associated with each article, which triggers an alarm when entering an interrogation zone at the store exit. The EAS tag reacts to signals transmitted by EAS security devices positioned at the exits of the store. Upon being interrogated by a specific signal, the EAS tag is adapted to emit a signal that is detectable by an EAS receiver, which can then activate an alarm. An EAS tag deactivator can deactivate the EAS tag associated with the article. A deactivated EAS tag will not be detectable by the EAS receiver and will not activate an alarm.
When an article is sold, the associated EAS tag is deactivated so that the article can be removed from the store without triggering an alarm at the exits of the store. To prevent the EAS tag deactivator from being used to deactivate an EAS tag when the associated article has not been sold, and to reduce power consumption and use, the deactivator can be selectively energized. Typically, at the point-of-sale (POS), the sales clerk scans indicia, such as a bar code, associated with the article with a reader. Upon being scanned, the information about the article contained on the indicia is entered into the cash register to designate a sale. The clerk knows that the indicia have been properly read because the POS reader includes some type of feedback, such as an audible or visual signal. The feedback signal is not present until the indicia are correctly read. Once the indicia are read, if a store clerk must then manually energize the EAS tag deactivator, an additional step must be performed during the checkout procedure. Further, the clerk could be in collusion with the customer and deactivate the EAS tag without reading/scanning the article for a sale.
In order to prevent the above type of theft and to selectively and automatically energize the EAS tag deactivator, the POS reader, which is commonly called a scanner, and the EAS tag deactivator have been electrically interfaced such that the EAS tag deactivator is triggered by the successful read of the indicia associated with the article being purchased. To interface the POS reader/scanner to the EAS tag deactivator, an electrical connection is made from the reader/scanner to the EAS tag deactivator. However, because of the number of different types of POS reader/scanners and EAS tag deactivators commercially available, many different types of electrical interfaces are required. In addition, implementing an electrical connection to a commercial POS reader/scanner product can void the warranty from certain equipment manufacturers. Therefore, a flexible and non-intrusive interface between a POS reader/scanner and an EAS tag deactivator is needed.